Lyn Allison (Victoria, Australian Democrats) Share this | Hansard source

It might be helpful to the debate if the minister could give the Senate some indication of when the government expects to make a decision on the Same-Sex: Same Entitlements Bill 2007, or proposals therein, and whether the minister is prepared to provide—something which has been missing so far and is a good reason for sending this bill off to committee—details of the cost implications of these changes. We have heard some fairly rough, rubbery figures expressed here and there, but there are certainly big differences and gaps in the information that is needed. That was one of the reasons not to revisit the whole issue. I think HREOC did that very well indeed. We do not need to do that but we do need to look at the implications of this bill coming into force.

When is the government going to make up its mind on this issue? Will we have to wait until after the election or can we expect something fairly soon? After all, HREOC did an extensive inquiry. It seems to me there is only one consideration and that is: how soon can we implement it? Are we going to get a decision in the next few days, weeks or months or after the election? When will it be? Will the minister see to it that information about the cost implications that were mentioned are made available?